Right Place ... Right Path!!!

Ever find yourself in a situation that after the events have played out you can only look back and Say "Wow ... I got the message God ... Thanks!". Well this happened to me last Friday. I was getting ready to sit down in my quiet little study area to review my Canadian Securities material when I seen there was already a couple of guys sitting there deep in conversation. Now at this point I would usually go to the library because it can be distracting trying to study in this area with a lot of talking around me but I decided sit at the only remaining open table. Besides, I had my MP3 player that I listen to when studying so all the surrounding sound can be blocked out. Well I started studying and within minutes my MP3 player went dead. The batteries had died (and unfortunately these batteries don't rise again). So needless to say, I tried to block out the conversation from the next table but I couldn't. Mostly because it was very interesting.

At the next table was an older man telling a younger man about his life journey and some of the things that he had come across. The older man kept referring to these men of faith that had come into his life. He would tell stories about these men and how he felt they had the power to heal others through prayer because their faith was so strong. He also talked about how the church has lost focus on helping the less fortunate. How the financially well off see those in need but just walk by without helping. The older man then pulled our his bible and started to read some pieces of scripture and would then explain the meaning behind them to the younger man. I quickly learned a few things about the older chap. He was well off but he was also struggling with illness. As he talked he often mentioned how he would love to be able to get close to someone who is strong in the faith so that he could place his prayers with him. He also talked about how he has been trying to help those financially less fortunate.

This is where it got difficult for me. I could see that this man was searching for God and was trying to grow his faith. I could also see that from his explanations of the scriptures he had read and his feeling towards these "Men of Faith" and what they could do, that he was somewhat missing the mark. Then my internal struggle started: a)I was not part of their conversation and so therefore it was not my place to interject my opinion. b) this person is not afraid to discuss scripture in public and is not ashamed to let others know he is search for the path of God ... if I rebuke, will I discourage this man from sharing his take on scripture.

Now if I was part of this conversation I would have no problem giving my take on things but I was not. So I finally decided I did need to say something but it had to be encouraging while at the same time corrective. So as I left my table I told the older gentleman that I enjoyed hearing him openly discuss the scriptures and his walk. That it is encouraging to see someone who is so comfortable doing so in public. I also told him that I could see where he was coming from with his take on the pieces he read but I felt there was a greater message in these passages. I encouraged him to take a deeper look at what they were saying. Stated that I felt that God is saying we need to put our complete faith in him. That it's important to financially help those who are less fortunate but more importantly, we need to help people find God in their lives. Show love to others the way we want to be loved. We need to connect with God with our faith and lay our prayers on his ears for him to hear. We all can be men of faith.

I thought of this all weekend and realized that God presented an opportunity to show myself how much I have grown in my faith but that I still have a long way to grow.... and I'm loving every step of the journey!!!